Lights are yummy

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

Does anyone know how you "shop" for these light cords. If you go on ebay, its hard to compare one string to the next. Ideally you want to get the most brightness per foot without paying a $fortune$ for the stuff. How do you compare one listing to the next?

I go somewhere that I can either see them first or know that I can easily return/exchange them if they are not right for me.

I wanted LEDs that were more white/blue than the traditional brown/incandescent tint and found them at Walmart of all places and they were cheapest there too.

This is one of those things at least when looking for white that I had to try a few before I found the ones that I liked.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

Does anyone know how you "shop" for these light cords. If you go on ebay, its hard to compare one string to the next. Ideally you want to get the most brightness per foot without paying a $fortune$ for the stuff. How do you compare one listing to the next?

Take a look a Jon's Post #13 and follow the link to his site. On his site he provides photos of his install and a link to what/where he purchased. Saw his last summer at a meet and they look really good.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I'm not sure a red lit interior would be appropriate for a single gal in a campground

so Donna I guess your not expecting to see a lot of red interior lights on this week-ends glamping trip! nether am I but then again you never know

[Donna D.]

Maybe, just maybe Carol.... but it IS only going to be women glamping . All the lace and crystal would probably drive most men nutz.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

All the lace and crystal would probably drive most men nutz.

Susssh you letting out the secret as to how we all get away for a girls week-end of camping without the men

[Robin G]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I'm not sure a red lit interior would be appropriate for a single gal in a campground

But Donna, you could fund retirement!






I have tried to think of a way to attach the rope type lights Ed, used but I wanted to run them along the floor like base. I bought them, but they are so darn stiff I knew I would need some pretty strong adhesive to attach. Gonna have to check out the light tape!




I want to see glamping pictures ladies!

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Robin G

But Donna, you could fund retirement!


I have tried to think of a way to attach the rope type lights Ed, used but I wanted to run them along the floor like base. I bought them, but they are so darn stiff I knew I would need some pretty strong adhesive to attach. Gonna have to check out the light tape!

I want to see glamping pictures ladies!

would something like this work Robin Adjustable/Locking Adhesive Kwik Klips® by Richco

I am trying to come up with an easy way to attaching the rope lights to the underside of my awning and was thinking about using those. If you leave the rope lights out in the sun for a couple of hours they tend to soften up and are easier to get into the position you want.

I hope you will be able to make it out with us one of these days Robin.

[KevinPete]

I get most of my LED's at Superbright LEDs. They have a (sometimes confusing) array of products, including many types of strips. I'd like an RGB strip with a remote so I can change the color at will.

I've replaced most of the bulbs in my truck, added some to the motorcycle, and in my other trailer. I also use mostly LED lights in my office, since I have 12v power available.

I like the warm white, the blue color of the cool white gets on my nerves for some reason, but so do fluorescent lights. I don't like blinding lights at night, either, so colors are great, I usually go with red or green, easiest on the eyes for me.

I get 4-LED modules locally at an electronics store, they come with foam tape on the back and 2 screw holes, and are wired for 12vdc already. I've saved a few old desk lamps with small metal goosenecks on them to recycle into adjustable reading lights for the egg. Not sure how or where I'll mount them yet.

These are the ones I get locally, 4 5050 LED's, pretty bright:

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by Robin G

)


I have tried to think of a way to attach the rope type lights Ed, used but I wanted to run them along the floor like base. I bought them, but they are so darn stiff I knew I would need some pretty strong adhesive to attach. Gonna have to check out the light tape!

TC141 - THOMAS & BETTS - CABLE TIE MOUNT, TY-RAP, NYLON | Newark

Cable Tie Mounting Pads by THOMAS & BETTS - Cable Clips by Zoro Tools Industrial Supplies

https://www.google.com/search?q=cabl...w=1295&bih=698

Just a few ideas.

I also have found that there is a wide variance in flexibility in the rope lights but it seems a lot of the newer LED versions are the most flexible luckily too.

Ed

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Take a look a Jon's Post #13 and follow the link to his site. On his site he provides photos of his install and a link to what/where he purchased. Saw his last summer at a meet and they look really good.

Thanks, although mine are just plain white - no dancing colors! I did purchase a similar strip from Hong Kong for far less (around $10.00 including shipping) and they used a much smaller SMD (the individual chip) that is much dimmer.

When purchasing from overseas, you really don't have any idea what you will be getting. Bulbs America sells a good product, but at $75.00 it isn't cheap. Even if you do find a Hong Kong supplier that has a good product, there is not assurance that they will be there for another order, or, even if they are, that the new item will be a duplicate of the original.

[glamourpets]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

The LED cords are an interesting idea. I too would like details.

Here is one option I'm pondering for the front couch area. $20 from Ikea. I'm not 100% sure where to clamp it, but maybr the mounting point of the couch would be good enough.

I just purchased the stand version of this light. Its $12 with the solid base, or $20 for the clip base. I think it will work well as I planned to install it. One catch is that its 5 volts, so I'm going to have to come up with an alternate way to power down from 12V to 5V. I have a plan for that too. More later.



For what its worth, Ikea has some good LED light products. It worth investigating their offerings if you are rewiring your trailer or adding lighting.


Derek

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

I just purchased the stand version of this light. Its $12 with the solid base, or $20 for the clip base. I think it will work well as I planned to install it. One catch is that its 5 volts, so I'm going to have to come up with an alternate way to power down from 12V to 5V. I have a plan for that too. More later.

For what its worth, Ikea has some good LED light products. It worth investigating their offerings if you are rewiring your trailer or adding lighting.

Derek

You can use a dc-dc buck converter to get 5 volts from 12. A couple of bucks on eBay. You can adjust the voltage with the little brass screw on the blue box.

Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-DC-DC-B...item3a74b337d4

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I'm not sure a red lit interior would be appropriate for a single gal in a campground

Back in the day Red filters on the florescent light tubes were used in Control Rooms and Berthing Compartments at night to maintain night vision for those who had to be active during Evening, Mid, and early Morning Watch.

Originally Posted by DOD Handbook 289

LIGHTING ON NAVAL SHIPS page 15

3.2.5.1 Dark adaptation. A person going from a brightly lighted area to
a darkened area suffers an immediate impairment of vision. At first, the person
can see little; gradually his eyes become dark-adapted and he can see more. The
process of dark adaptation is substantially complete in 25 to 30 minutes,
although it has been shown to continue for about 1-1/2 hours. Since the rods
by which night vision is performed are relatively insensitive to red light,
dark adaptation can be more easily acquired under low level red illumination
while performing useful seeing tasks. This saves time. Furthermore, personnel
can move back and forth between darkened areas with low level red illumination
without serious temporary impairment of vision in either location. It should be
noted that a person operating in low level red illumination is red-adapted, not
dark-adapted. Red adaptation reduces the transition time to dark adaptation.
One way to speed up the process of dark adaptation when bright lights are present
is to wear red goggles for about 30 minutes prior to going into the dark. The
red lens filters out all colors except red , and since the rods do not respond to
red, they are as unaffected as if they were in the dark. Meanwhile, the cones
are being used for vision. When the dark is entered and the goggles removed,
cones will be ineffective but vision will be maintained with rods. Dark adaptation
is a separate process in each eye. Since bright light quickly destroys
night vision, the closing of one eye during exposure to a bright light at night
will allow retention of half vision. In addition, if lights are necessary at
night, use dim lights (red if possible) and use them sparingly.

3.2.5.2 Light adaptation. Light adaptation, the reverse of the process
just discussed, is much more rapid than dark adaptation. In general, the eye
can change from a state of complete dark adaptation to light adaptation in
about 2 minutes. Nevertheless, vision may be so severely handicapped during
this period of transition, particularly if the illumination is of high intensity,
that the eyes are of little use.

[Ed Harris]

Fred

I think this also applies to Birthing compartments which is what Donna was sort of referring to?

Certainly might explain a few things too.

[glamourpets]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

You can use a dc-dc buck converter to get 5 volts from 12. A couple of bucks on eBay. You can adjust the voltage with the little brass screw on the blue box.

Example: 1pcs DC DC Buck Converter Step Down Module LM2596 Power Supply Output 1 23V 30V | eBay

I was thinking about taking one of those cigarette lighter usb charger things and cutting the case off it. A usb port should produce 5V. This way I can either cut a usb cable and solder that onto the light. Alternatively I can cut the circuitry out of one of the usb chargers and solder the whole thing together directly.

Your link provides an interesting alternative, though I don't see exactly how it works out.

Derek

PS. Frederic, your post provides some interesting details on the issue of red lights. I've seen red lighting in private aircraft and personal sailboats.

For a short time we had people putting Blue headlight bulbs into their cars. These were made illegal so you don't see them much anymore. Apparently Blue has a blinding quality about it but I don't know the biology behind it. One would expect Red headlights to be a useful innovation. Thoughts?

Derek

[Jon Vermilye]

One problem with any specific color for headlights (other than white) is that the narrow spectrum devices such as LEDs that produce single colors would make every object (other than those the same color) black. Probably not a good idea for headlights.

You want a continuous spectrum source if you want to see all colors. Actually, you eyes work best at the middle of the color spectrum produced by the sun (more proof of evolution?), which is a yellow/green color.

Both red & blue are at the edges, neither of which is ideal as a low light source (other than using red for "dark adaption" as Frederick pointed out). Makes you wonder why fire trucks are painted red, and explains why many new ones are painted yellow/green!

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by Ed Harris

I think this also applies to Birthing compartments which is what Donna was sort of referring to?

Don't you just love nautical terminology?

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

I was thinking about taking one of those cigarette lighter usb charger things and cutting the case off it. A usb port should produce 5V. This way I can either cut a usb cable and solder that onto the light. Alternatively I can cut the circuitry out of one of the usb chargers and solder the whole thing together directly.

A usb chager thing just has a voltage regulator (like picture below) inside that essentially turns the excessive voltage to heat. The gizmo I linked is a dc-dc converter that decreases voltage and increases amperage. In your application, no big deal either way.

Your link provides an interesting alternative, though I don't see exactly how it works out.

You solder two wires from a 12 volt source (+/-)to the ternimals on the left corners. You solder two output wires to the terminals on the right (+/-) corners. You turn the little brass screw and set the voltage where you want it, essentially anywhere below 12 volts. Handy for powering low voltage things like LED lights, charging small batteries, etc.

[tartosuc]

I dont have myfiberglass rv yet buton my other camper i bought flexible led strips from dx.com (also called deal extreme) in china
It takes forever to received your stuff but its cheap

I made 5 zones with seperate switches..
I used a lot of indirect light except over the table .
After my installation i did a test, thencomplete set could run for 3 days on mysmall batterie before shuttng down...

In general led above 5000 degK will emit a white light with blueish hue similar to neons.

Some led are in the 3200k will emitt a more yellow white light similar to incandescent
Most of these light strips come with 3m sticky backing, but i had some that did not stick properly and would fall under their weight, so i just used a bit of hot glue.
Attach pic is an overview of whatnit looked like.

Se the picture to give you an idea, its brigter than it looks in the pics

[glamourpets]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

You solder two wires from a 12 volt source (+/-)to the ternimals on the left corners. You solder two output wires to the terminals on the right (+/-) corners. You turn the little brass screw and set the voltage where you want it, essentially anywhere below 12 volts. Handy for powering low voltage things like LED lights, charging small batteries, etc.

This sounds straight forward enough. Its certainly worth a $2 to try it out. The whole idea in switching to LEDs is to reduce power consumption. It doesn't make sense to intentionally waste power making heat (even if the total power wasted to this purpose is minimal).

Derek